Cliff Bleszinski

Clifford Bleszinski

Bleszinski presenting at the 2016 Game Developers Conference
Born Clifford Michael Bleszinski
(1975-02-12) February 12, 1975
North Andover, Massachusetts, U.S.
Residence Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S.
Other names CliffyB, Dude Huge[1]
Occupation Game designer
Spouse(s) Lauren Bleszinski

Clifford Michael Bleszinski (born February 12, 1975), popularly known as CliffyB, is an American video game designer, former design director for the game development company Epic Games, and the founder of Boss Key Productions. He is known for his role in the development of the Unreal franchise, especially 1999's Unreal Tournament, and the Gears of War franchise.[2]

Career

Cliff Bleszinski made his first non-commercial game at the age of 11.[3] His first commercial game was made at age 17, an independently developed point-and-click adventure game called "The Palace of Deceit: Dragon's Plight".[4][5] Bleszinski created the game while he was a student at Bonita High School in La Verne, California, and released it in 1991 via his own company, Game Syndicate Productions. He sent a copy of the game to Tim Sweeney, the founder of Epic Games (then known as Epic MegaGames).[6] Sweeney was impressed with the game and hired Bleszinski to work at Epic.[7][8][9]

Epic Games

His next game was Dare to Dream, a point-and-click adventure, released in 1993. Bleszinski worked on one of Epic's first multi-person projects brought, 1994's Jazz Jackrabbit followed by 1998's Jazz Jackrabbit 2. He helped to develop many of spin-off games such as "Jazz Jackrabbit: Holiday Hare", and designed the first-person shooter game Unreal which took four years of development. The follow-up game was Unreal Tournament.[10] In addition to his work on the Unreal series, Bleszinski served as lead designer on the Xbox 360 shooter Gears of War and its sequel, Gears of War 2. Gears evolved out of the development of what was going to be a game called Unreal Warfare.[11] As Bleszinski explained in a speech at GDC 2007 entitled "Designing Gears of War: Iteration Wins," the game started out as another first-person shooter in the Unreal universe.[12] Over time, however, influenced by the cover mechanic in Namco's 2003 game Kill Switch and the third-person Resident Evil 4,[13] Unreal Warfare became the game known as Gears of War. On April 12, 2010, he appeared on NBC's Late Night with Jimmy Fallon to promote Gears of War 3, [14][15] his last game for the company.[16][17]

Bleszinski at the Gears of War event at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, 2006

Bleszinski is one of the creators of Epic Game's Infinity blade, released in 2010. It is the first mobile game that he designed.[18]

Cliff announced his departure from Epic Games on October 3, 2012 after 20 years with the company.[19][20]

After Epic

On June 30, 2014, Cliff stated on Twitter, "I'm officially coming out of retirement to make video games again."[21][22][23] On July 8, 2014, Cliff announced a free-to-play, PC-focused arena shooter code-named BlueStreak created by Boss Key Productions, his new studio.[24][25][26]

On August 26, 2015, Cliff Bleszinksi revealed the first details about his upcoming free-to-play arena shooter, previously known as Project Bluestreak. The game, which is due out some time in 2016 and going to be published by Nexon, will be called LawBreakers.[27]

Cliff Bleszinski was offered an opportunity to work on the Silent Hill franchise by Hideo Kojima, vice president of Konami Digital Entertainment.[28][29] "I was flattered but declined," he wrote on twitter.[29]

Personal life

One of his brothers is Tyler Bleszinski, a sports blogger who founded Athletics Nation and Vox Media.[30] He is married to blogger Lauren Bleszinski (née Berggren).[31][32] The nickname "CliffyB" was given to him derogatorily by "some jock kid" when he was a shy teenager; he then took it and developed a tougher persona around it.[33] In 2008, he expressed a desire to retire the CliffyB moniker, saying it's "time to grow up a bit".[34] Bleszinski is an atheist.[35]

Bleszinski has opened two bars in Raleigh, North Carolina, one in 2014, called The Station,[36] and another one in 2015, The Raleigh Beer Garden.[37]

Credits

Bleszinski at PAX Prime 2012

Video games

Filmography

References

  1. ↑ Ashcraft, Brian (April 8, 2010). "Why We Call Him Dude Huge". Kotaku. Retrieved October 3, 2012.
  2. ↑ Gaudiosi, John (July 21, 2014). "Interview: Legendary designer Cliff Bleszinski discusses the future of free-to-play shooters". PC World. International Data Group. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Cliff Bleszinski (Person) - Giant Bomb". www.giantbomb.com. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  4. ↑ Alexander, Leigh (February 18, 2014). "With new perspective on life and games, Cliff Bleszinski plots next move". Gamasutra. UBM plc. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  5. ↑ Hsu, Dan (January 22, 2013). "Life after Epic: Getting to know Cliff Bleszinski (exclusive interview, part one: his past)". VentureBeat. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  6. ↑ Bissel, Tom (November 3, 2008). "The Grammar of Fun. CliffyB and the world of the video game". The New Yorker. Condé Nast. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  7. ↑ Pitts, Russ (May 13, 2008). "Cliff Bleszinski: The Escapist Interview". The Escapist. Defy Media. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  8. ↑ Modest Law (October 17, 2010). "Interview With Cliff Bleszinski". Royal Flush. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  9. ↑ K. Ohnesorge, Lauren (September 25, 2014). "Exclusive: Q&A with the boss behind Boss Key Productions: Cliff Bleszinski". Triangle Business Journal. American City Business Journals. Retrieved October 8, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Digital Extremes – Unreal". Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  11. ↑ Kuchera, Ben (May 7, 2012). "How Gears of War rose from the ashes of a scrapped Unreal title called "Warfare"". The Penny Arcade Report. Archived from the original on May 10, 2012. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  12. ↑ Dobson, Jason (March 12, 2007). "Post-GDC: Cliff Bleszinski Says Iteration Won Gears of War". Gamasutra. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  13. ↑ Carlson, Alex (June 5, 2014). "How Gears of War Was the Xbox 360’s Smartest Game". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
  14. ↑ Butts, Steve (April 12, 2010). "Gears Of War 3 On Jimmy Fallon". IGN. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  15. ↑ Narcisse, Evan (April 13, 2010). "The Techland Interview: Cliff Bleszinski, Part 1". Techland Time. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  16. ↑ Hoggings, Tom (September 19, 2011). "Gears of War 3 interview: Cliff Bleszinski". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  17. ↑ Killingsworth, Jason (September 29, 2011). "Cliff Bleszinski interview". Edge. Future plc. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  18. ↑ "GDC: Exclusive Interview-Epic Games CliffyB Cliff Bleszinski Talks Infinity Blade Dungeons & more by GamerLiveTV - 2016-03-15". i1os.com. Retrieved 2016-03-16.
  19. ↑ Epic Games (October 3, 2012). "Cliff Bleszinski Departs Epic". Epic Games Community. Epic Games. Retrieved November 21, 2012.
  20. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (October 3, 2012). "Cliff Bleszinski out at Epic Games". GameSpot. Retrieved October 8, 2012.
  21. ↑ "Twitter / therealcliffyb: I'm officially coming out of …". twitter.com. 2014-06-30. Retrieved 2014-06-30.
  22. ↑ Makuch, Eddie (July 3, 2014). "Gears of War Veteran Developer Cliff Bleszinski "Coming Out Of Retirement"". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  23. ↑ Hsu, Dan (July 21, 2014). "Cliff Bleszinski on his retirement, returning, what he’s learned, and where he’s going from here (interview)". VentureBeat. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  24. 1 2 Campbell, Evan (July 8, 2014). "Gear of War Designer Cliff Bleszinski announces F2P shooter BlueStreak". IGN. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  25. ↑ LeJacq, Yannick (July 8, 2014). "Cliff Bleszinski's Next Game Is A Free-To-Play Shooter". Kotaku. Retrieved September 27, 2014.
  26. ↑ Lahti, Evan (July 23, 2014). "Interview: Cliff Bleszinski on Project BlueStreak, PC gaming, FPS design, moddability". PC Gamer. Future plc. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  27. ↑ Karmali, Luke (August 26, 2015). "Gears of War Creator Cliff Bleszinski Announces New Game LawBreakers". IGN. Retrieved August 26, 2015.
  28. ↑ "Cliff Bleszinski Turned Down A Chance to Work With Hideo Kojima on Silent Hills". Shacknews. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  29. 1 2 Sirani, By Jordan. "Kojima Wanted to Make Silent Hills With Gears of War Creator Cliff Bleszinski". IGN. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  30. ↑ Burg, Dustin (November 7, 2006). "Interview: Tyler Bleszinski's GearHeads". Joystiq. AOL. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  31. ↑ Kumpan, Sean (March 12, 2013). "EL337 Level: Interview with Lauren Bleszinski". PS Home Gazette. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  32. ↑ "Who am I?". L337LAUREN. Retrieved 2016-03-14.
  33. ↑ The Grammar of Fun. New Yorker (2008-11-03). Retrieved on 2012-11-21.
  34. ↑ Blog post on MTV Multiplayer. Multiplayerblog.mtv.com (2008-05-21). Retrieved on 2012-11-21.
  35. ↑ "Twitter / therealcliffyb: And I'm not Jewish. I'm an Atheist". Twitter.com. 2013-06-19. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  36. ↑ Gaudiosi, John (July 22, 2014). "From Gears to Beers: A Video Game Mogul Opens a Restaurant". Men's Journal. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
  37. ↑ Weigl, Andrea (17 July 2015). "Raleigh Beer Garden to open Tuesday". The News & Observer. The McClatchy Company. Retrieved 20 July 2015.
  38. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 "Mobygames Developer BIO". mobygames.com. Retrieved 2011-02-07.
  39. ↑ Brown, David (February 18, 2011). "Bulletstorm developer interview: Cliff Bleszinski". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
  40. ↑ Hall, Charlie (July 11, 2014). "Cliff Bleszinski's next game level is being made in Poland right now". Polygon. Vox Media. Retrieved July 15, 2014.
  41. ↑ jgaudiosi (September 26, 2006). ""Stay Alive" Hits DVD". videogames.typepad. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  42. ↑ "WARREN SPECTOR TRIBUTE with Cliff Bleszinski". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-08-08.
  43. ↑ "SAKAGUCHI'S FINAL FANTASY". YouTube. Retrieved 2015-03-06.
  44. ↑ "Sonic For Hire – Gears of War". YouTube. Retrieved 2013-01-05.
  45. ↑ "Class in session! Video Game High School 2 Ep. 1 is live". Destructoid. 2013-07-26.
  46. ↑ Makedonski, Brett (2014-03-25). "Cliffy B chooses you to die in this Pokemon rap". Destructoid. Retrieved 2014-03-26.
  47. ↑ http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-video-games-movie-review-20140718-001-photo.html

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